February 15, 2023: Hanover BOS to be presented with draft FY24 budget; Amelia BOS to consider sidewalk shortfall;
Plus: What's happening in meetings in Albemarle and Fluvanna counties
I begin this one with a confession. Everything got sort of bunched up this weekend and I neglected to include a preview of the Nelson County Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday. I had included it in the Week Ahead on my other feed, but did not include it in the rest of Tuesday’s meetings in Tuesday’s edition.
So, I’m going to do something new. I will write up as much of the Nelson County meeting as I can, and I’m going to do that here. Some of it may end up in Charlottesville Community Engagement, but a lot more of will be original to here but also cross-posted to Information Charlottesville.
My hope is to continue growing the content of this newsletter while I continue to write about Charlottesville. This is an experiment after all. One reason I keep saying that is because it’s also an experiment in time management that has forced me to create a production schedule.
For instance, this one is referred to as F76. You’re about to read about meetings in Albemarle, Amelia, Fluvanna, and Hanover. Two of them I’ve already written up, but the next three I’ll be writing up now. Nottoway will have to wait until F77.
All of this is an experiment you can help fund if you want to see where it goes. The best way for now would be to sign up to the Patreon account for Town Crier Productions, the company I created to cover the costs of the experiment. I see a lot of value in the work I’m doing, the same way the Charlottesville community has come to see my work covering local government and economic development as valuable.
Anyway, enough of that. On to the material. No bulleted list this time as I want to get this out so I can move on to CCE498 and CV8 as well as F77.
Sidewalk construction to connect Amelia schools now under budget
The five member Board of Supervisors in Amelia County will meet at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Amelia County Administration Conference Room at 16360 Dunn Street in Amelia. (meeting portal)
After the usual start to the meeting, Supervisors will receive a series of presentations from the Virginia Department of Transportation and the Amelia County Public Schools. The latter will present recommendations for the future of the Career and Technical Education Center including the potential for a new building adjacent to Amelia County High School.
There’s also a resolution to designate the Amelia County Fire and EMS as an operational unit of the Department of Emergency Management, as well as one related to mutual aid with neighboring counties.
There will be a request from STEPS for any funds that would have gone to Madeline House, a now-closed shelter for victims of domestic violence. Buckingham County heard the same request this week.
One of the presentations is from the Longwood Small Business Development Center. Here’s a long quote to share what they do.
“The Longwood SBDC provided information, consulting and/or training to 894 individuals in Southern Virginia during FY 21-22. 60 percent were existing business owners seeking consulting or training to grow or improve their business success. 40 percent were exploring opportunities to open a business. Longwood SBDC clients self reported $9.1 million in new capital investment in their businesses and 253 jobs created as a result of SBDC assistance.”
There will also be a Community Development report from the Sidewalk Committee. This is related to a Transportation Alternatives Program grant the county received for a sidewalk on Otterburn Road and Five Forks Road to connect the elementary, middle, and high schools.
“Due to cost projection increases since the original filing of the application, the project scope as awarded would require approximately $2.5M in funding meaning there is currently a $1.4M deficit which would have to be covered by Amelia County for completion,” reads the report.
The committee has recommended three potential options, including a phased approach. The others are hand the money back over and try again next time, or just cancel it all together.
The Virginia Department of Transportation recommends the phased approach.
Under old and new business, Supervisors will consider an amendment to the Personal Property ordinance for filing requirements. There will also be an update from RiverStreet on broadband installation.
Ivy vet clinic and catering kitchen goes before Albemarle Supervisors
The Albemarle Board of Supervisors meets at 1 p.m. in Lane Auditorium at 401 McIntire Road. (agenda)
The first action item on the agenda is an action item on a special exception for a homestay in the White Hall Magisterial District. The county’s rules on transient lodging left a lot of room for interpretation by the Board of Supervisors. In this case, an applicant on Pea Ridge Road seeks permission to allow a resident manager to live on the site rather than requiring the property owner to be on site. They also seek a second request to allow up to three new accessory structures. Staff recommends approval. (staff report)
Next, Supervisors will be asked to approve changes to tipping fees and other charges at the Ivy Materials Utilization Center (MUC). Though operated by the Rivanna Solid Waste Authority, Albemarle County covers the costs of operations after revenue from tipping fees is factored in.
“In response to a steady increase in annual tonnage received and to rising costs for operation of Ivy MUC, the RSWA Executive Director formally proposed that the Board of Supervisors consider an increase in tipping fees for [Municipal Solid Waste], Construction Debris, and Vegetation/Yard Waste,” reads the staff report.
After that, Supervisors will revisit a request from a landowner to allow for an exemption from the county’s relatively new regulations on importing fill dirt. Supervisors denied a request last July, as I wrote about at the time. Now the landowner has come back with a new plan that has conditions and specificity. (staff report)
After a brief recess, Supervisors will see two presentations that have already gone before the Charlottesville City Council. The first is on the financing strategy for renovations to the Albemarle Charlottesville Regional Jail. The second is a progress report for the United Way of Greater Charlottesville’s strategic plan from FY23 to FY27.
“The overarching goal is to eliminate barriers for minority and economically-disadvantaged populations and enable them to achieve financial stability and thrive economically,” reads a sentence in the presentation that was made to Council last week.
I had hoped to write about both of those events and did not in time for this meeting. will. There are so many potential stories. One day.
The evening session begins at 6 p.m. There are three public hearings, but two are related to each other. The first is for a special use permit for Maple Grove Christian Church in Hollymead to operate a daycare.
The second is a special use permit request for a veterinary clinic to operate in Ivy within 200 feet of a residential property. There are several parcels on U.S. 250 that are zoned commercial but are not within the designated area.
“Ivy epitomizes one of Albemarle County' s rural communities complete with a full -service garage, a U. S. Post Office, a four-season nursery and garden center, and an old motel converted to retail and service-oriented enterprises servicing the community, and, of course, Duner's Restaurant,” reads the applicant’s narrative. “We propose to add a small-animal veterinary office to this mix of services. Currently, the closest veterinary services are at least five miles in either direction.”
The third is a request to use more than 348 gallons of water a day for the 6,500 square foot multi-tenant commercial building that the vet clinic will be within. The building is not on public water and sewer and the request is to use up to 850 gallons a day. This request also contains a special use permit request to operate a 2,000 square foot catering kitchen.
“This location is ideally suited for a catering business that serves the greater Charlottesville community, Crozet, and the burgeoning event-industry throughout Albemarle County,” reads the narrative for this application.
There’s a lot of information on the consent agenda, but I’ll have that information in a future edition of Charlottesville Community Engagement.
Fluvanna Supervisors to hold public hearing on solid waste material recovery facility
The five-member Fluvanna County Board of Supervisors meets at 5 p.m. at 8880 James Madison Highway in Fork Union. (agenda packet)
The meeting begins with a discussion of the budget for Fluvanna County Schools. That information is not available in advance in the packet.
There is one public hearing on a special use permit for S.B. Cox. for a solid waste materials recovery facility. The Planning Commission recommended approval in January on a 4 to 0 vote.
“S.B. Cox Inc. is a family-run, Virginia-based demolition and recycling facility that has been in business for over 50 years,” reads the staff report. “The applicant is requesting a Special Use Permit to construct and operate a solid waste material recovery facility for construction and demolition debris.”
Under action matters, a contract will be approved for the remediation of the Kents Store Firehouse after a recent incident.
“While pumping the grease pit in the kitchen, a septic pump truck accidently back flowed into the building causing sewage sludge to seep onto the floors of these three rooms and the intermediary hallway to a depth of around a half inch to one inch,” reads a report from TJL Environmental Health Consultants.
In all, around 3,000 gallons of sewage contaminated water were involved.
There will be a presentation on projects at Pleasant Grove Park including installation of a new controls system.
“This presentation is to inform the BOS of a fence and gate installation near the front of Pleasant Grove Park,” reads the staff report. “The fence and gate will be able to block the gravel portions of Pleasant Grove Drive and Lippard Lane in the park.”
There will also be an update on the renovation of the Fluvanna County Community Center.
Hanover Supervisors to be presented with FY24 budget
The seven-member Board of Supervisors in Hanover County will meet at 2 p.m. for a special budget meeting at the Hanover County Administration Building at 7516 County Complex Road in Hanover. Hanover County and Bedford County are the two localities of 24 that are only part of the Fifth Congressional District. (meeting info page)
County Administrator John Budesky will present the budget. I will note the level of information available about the development process is a lot less than what’s on the website of Albemalre and Charlottesville. The website for Finance and Management Services doesn’t include any information about what might be in the FY2024 budget. Maybe I don’t know where to look.
In Albemarle County, there’s a page devoted to budget development, with a link to the calendar. The two counties are similar in size and make-up. Yet the level of information available to community members in Albemarle is much higher, complete with a list of budget-related presentations to Supervisors in the run-up to the February 22, 2023 unveiling of its FY24 budget.
In Charlottesville, planning for FY24 is front and center on the city’s budget website. There’s even an embedded video of a recent forum the interim City Manager held on the budget.
This newsletter exists in one way so I can make these comparisons and see how other places do things. I can’t tell you anything about the FY24 budget in Hanover yet, but I hope to at least post links to the reporting from others as it happens.
Reading material will resume in the next edition!